In a conventional engine blower, air is ejected due to the rotation of a fan driven by an engine for cleaning or the like. Because air is ejected through a ventilation tube in such engine blower, static electricity is generated due to friction between an inner wall of the ventilation tube and the ejected-air and is built up in the ventilation tube, especially when air is dry. Consequently, when an operator touches the ventilation tube in which the static electricity is built up, the built-up static electricity is suddenly flowed through the operator's body, which is annoying to the operator. In order to prevent such problem, various static-elimination structures have been suggested (for example, Document 1: JP-A-2001-73793, Document 2: JP-A-2004-319297).
Document 1 discloses that a grounding wire is provided to be gripped with a handle by an operator, and an end of the grounding wire is disposed within the handle to be in contact with a Bowden wire used for operating an accelerator. In such structure as disclosed in Document 1, static electricity generated in a ventilation tube during operation is conducted from the operator into the grounding wire, and then into an engine via the Bowden wire. Thus, while the operator grips the handle and the grounding wire for working, the static electricity is grounded to the engine without being built up in the ventilation tube so that the static electricity is not suddenly flowed through the operator's body. Document 1 also discloses that the grounding wire may be in contact with a grounding line used for an ignition switch in place of the Bowden wire.
Similarly, Document 2 discloses that a circular discharge plate is provided to be gripped with a handle by an operator, and the discharge plate is electrically coupled with a Bowden wire provided within the handle via a flexible conductive plate. Such structure disclosed in Document 2 can attain the same advantages as the structure disclosed in Document 1.
Also, in some other conventional engine blowers, a conductive resin layer is provided on a surface of a handle in place of the grounding wire or the discharge plate as disclosed in Document 1 or 2, and the resin layer is electrically coupled with a Bowden wire provided within the handle via a conductive member. In such static-elimination structure, because it is not required to provide the grounding wire or the discharge plate, the number of parts and the parts cost can be reduced. Further, assembly of the parts can be simplified.
However, when the conductive resin layer is provided on the handle, it may be difficult to maintain electrical coupling between the resin layer and the Bowden wire. In other words, the conductive member provided within the handle and the resin layer are not highly reliably connected with each other due to variations in parts dimension or in assembly accuracy. Thus, it has been desired to solve such problem.